Let's get this straight: Iran's government is not our friends. You'll see the flags of many nations flying outside Iranian hotels, convention centers, and other such areas where an international audience may gather. You'll see the German flag, the Canadian flag, the Egyptian flag, any number of flags there. But you won't see the U.S. flag there. The only U.S. flags you'll see in Iran are the huge ones unfurled from the sides of buildings with "Down with America!" or "Death to America!" painted on them. Friendly that ain't. But the question is what we should do about the Iranians. McCain's answer is simple: bomb them. Obama's is more nuanced: negotiate with them. So who's right?
One thing to keep straight is this: to misquote Lord Palmerston, nations do not have friends. Nations have interests. And both we, and the Iranians, have interests in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. And where those interests overlap, which are in broad areas (both we and Iran support the current government of Iraq, for example), there is absolutely no reason why we and the Iranians cannot and should not talk about those interests and see if there is a mutually agreeable manner in which both of us can assure that our shared interests are upheld.
In short, it is John McCain whose policies are dangerously naive. It is John McCain who would ignore national interest in favor of naive categorizations of nations as "friend" or "enemy". It is not the leaders of Iran -- the ayatollahs who hold the real power there -- who are stopping diplomatic conversations on areas of mutually shared interests between the two nations. It is petulant, mean-tempered little jerks who place their personal spite ahead of the interests of the nation who are doing that. And I'm talking about both George W. Bush and John McCain when I say that, sadly enough.
-- Badtux the Geopolitical Penguin
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